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otterfolly's review against another edition
5.0
The best extracts from numerous authors - puts life into perspective. Not reading too much at the moment, as life doesn't need to put into perspective at this time, but will return to this soon.
aelumen's review against another edition
4.0
Vim a este ao engano, mas acabei por ficar. Numa pilha de escolhas que queria mais técnica no que toca à escrita científica, deparo-me com as escolhas de Dawkins, do que ele tem por boa escrita científica. Gostei muito das escolhas e temas, e fui viajando.
Ainda assim só lamento o foco em livros para as massas em vez de publicações científicas. Foi aquele croissant misto que sem contar chega à mesa e o qual já não se nega.
Ainda assim só lamento o foco em livros para as massas em vez de publicações científicas. Foi aquele croissant misto que sem contar chega à mesa e o qual já não se nega.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1314389.html[return][return]I'm not a fan of Dawkins' views on religion, but as editor of this book he has done a fine job; it clearly makes a difference that he is writing about topics he knows and likes, and his introductory pieces to each extract are informative and often self-deprecating.[return][return]I was less sure that the book actually works as a concept. The selected pieces are necessarily extracts rather than complete works, and the result feels more like a scrapbook than an anthology. Certainly none of the pieces is bad, and several of them made me want to seek out more by that author (from the sublime - Albert Einstein's thoughts on God - to the ridiculous - Francis Crick's advice to avoid gatherings of more than two Nobel Prize winners). But the nature of the book means a succession of changes of pace, some of which are rather jarring. This contains a number of chunks out of various excellent books about science but doesn't quite end up being one itself.
alexctelander's review against another edition
3.0
THE OXFORD BOOK OF MODERN SCIENCE WRITING EDITED BY RICHARD DAWKINS: Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene, The Ancestor’s Tale, and The God Delusion, needs no introduction having established himself as a reputable voice when discussing science in its many forms. His latest effort is The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, in a hefty tome, where Dawkins attempts to present a concise view of science to the world in many short passages from many different scientists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that tessellate together to form a beautiful volume of writing.
The book is divided into four parts, as Dawkins organizes the vast wealth of science writing available not in chronological order, but groups the extracts into the following categories: “What Scientists Study,” “Who Scientists Are,” “What Scientists Think,” “What Scientists Delight in.” Organizing it this ways serves to make the book more entertaining in the variety of subjects that are presented when the book is read from cover to cover. Should the reader want to use the book more as a reference tool or to look up some specific authors or terms, there is a thorough index at the end of the book. With each extract, Dawkins offers up his own commentary and reason for choosing the specific piece.
All the great scientists make an appearance here: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick, Brian Greene, Jared Diamond, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Primo Levi, the list goes on and on. But this list is not reserved for the greats of science, but many of the women and men who have worked hard in their lives to further the knowledge of science in areas such as genetics, evolution, string theory, relativity, and mathematics. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a weighty, comprehensive book with almost everything science has had to offer in the last hundred years or so, and while it may not be for the science novice, the ideas, theories, and hypotheses expressed in this book have reshaped science, and offered up hope and ideals for future answers and theories that will continue to change the world as we know it.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
The book is divided into four parts, as Dawkins organizes the vast wealth of science writing available not in chronological order, but groups the extracts into the following categories: “What Scientists Study,” “Who Scientists Are,” “What Scientists Think,” “What Scientists Delight in.” Organizing it this ways serves to make the book more entertaining in the variety of subjects that are presented when the book is read from cover to cover. Should the reader want to use the book more as a reference tool or to look up some specific authors or terms, there is a thorough index at the end of the book. With each extract, Dawkins offers up his own commentary and reason for choosing the specific piece.
All the great scientists make an appearance here: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick, Brian Greene, Jared Diamond, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Primo Levi, the list goes on and on. But this list is not reserved for the greats of science, but many of the women and men who have worked hard in their lives to further the knowledge of science in areas such as genetics, evolution, string theory, relativity, and mathematics. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a weighty, comprehensive book with almost everything science has had to offer in the last hundred years or so, and while it may not be for the science novice, the ideas, theories, and hypotheses expressed in this book have reshaped science, and offered up hope and ideals for future answers and theories that will continue to change the world as we know it.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
sjstuart's review against another edition
5.0
If you want to be inspired, either by the majesty and beauty of science, or by the passion and skill of those who write about it, pick up this book and read a few sections. It contains scores of snippets, each just a handful of pages, on dozens of different subjects, by a range of different authors, and most of them are inspirational.
When I bought the book, I didn't realize that the readings were all from popular science writing, for non-specialist audiences. Misled by the cover art and by the list of authors, I expected a collection of sparkling gems of writing from the primary literature. There are, indeed, many samples from notable scientists; if you can name a scientist from a field you don't work in, chances are he is represented here. (And the male pronoun is appropriate; female authors fill only a few percent of the pages.) But these selections are taken from their writings for the general public, post-Nobel and in the memoir-writing or science-popularization phase of their career. Nonetheless, the writing is still impressive. Although not models for good technical science writing, as I had hoped, the excerpts do a great job of conveying the enthusiasm for science and delight in discovery that is shared by every great scientist and science writer.
Another thing that caught me off guard was the emphasis on biology, and especially evolutionary biology. There are some samples here from astronomers and physicists, but as often as not they are writing outside the field that they are known for. We get Einstein's musings on religion and philosophy, Schrödinger's description of entropy for biologists, and astrophysicist Fred Hoyle's take on evolution. It's not that these are not interesting, and I can understand why Dawkins has a soft spot for writings on the biological sciences, but I expected, and would have enjoyed, a little more representation from the physical scientists.
Even with these quibbles, the books is outstanding. It's very enjoyable to read, whether you want to admire the writing or absorb some of the science. Many of the passages made me curious to read the longer works from which they were taken, several of which have already made it onto my bookshelf.
When I bought the book, I didn't realize that the readings were all from popular science writing, for non-specialist audiences. Misled by the cover art and by the list of authors, I expected a collection of sparkling gems of writing from the primary literature. There are, indeed, many samples from notable scientists; if you can name a scientist from a field you don't work in, chances are he is represented here. (And the male pronoun is appropriate; female authors fill only a few percent of the pages.) But these selections are taken from their writings for the general public, post-Nobel and in the memoir-writing or science-popularization phase of their career. Nonetheless, the writing is still impressive. Although not models for good technical science writing, as I had hoped, the excerpts do a great job of conveying the enthusiasm for science and delight in discovery that is shared by every great scientist and science writer.
Another thing that caught me off guard was the emphasis on biology, and especially evolutionary biology. There are some samples here from astronomers and physicists, but as often as not they are writing outside the field that they are known for. We get Einstein's musings on religion and philosophy, Schrödinger's description of entropy for biologists, and astrophysicist Fred Hoyle's take on evolution. It's not that these are not interesting, and I can understand why Dawkins has a soft spot for writings on the biological sciences, but I expected, and would have enjoyed, a little more representation from the physical scientists.
Even with these quibbles, the books is outstanding. It's very enjoyable to read, whether you want to admire the writing or absorb some of the science. Many of the passages made me curious to read the longer works from which they were taken, several of which have already made it onto my bookshelf.
alexctelander's review
3.0
THE OXFORD BOOK OF MODERN SCIENCE WRITING EDITED BY RICHARD DAWKINS: Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene, The Ancestor’s Tale, and The God Delusion, needs no introduction having established himself as a reputable voice when discussing science in its many forms. His latest effort is The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, in a hefty tome, where Dawkins attempts to present a concise view of science to the world in many short passages from many different scientists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that tessellate together to form a beautiful volume of writing.
The book is divided into four parts, as Dawkins organizes the vast wealth of science writing available not in chronological order, but groups the extracts into the following categories: “What Scientists Study,” “Who Scientists Are,” “What Scientists Think,” “What Scientists Delight in.” Organizing it this ways serves to make the book more entertaining in the variety of subjects that are presented when the book is read from cover to cover. Should the reader want to use the book more as a reference tool or to look up some specific authors or terms, there is a thorough index at the end of the book. With each extract, Dawkins offers up his own commentary and reason for choosing the specific piece.
All the great scientists make an appearance here: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick, Brian Greene, Jared Diamond, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Primo Levi, the list goes on and on. But this list is not reserved for the greats of science, but many of the women and men who have worked hard in their lives to further the knowledge of science in areas such as genetics, evolution, string theory, relativity, and mathematics. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a weighty, comprehensive book with almost everything science has had to offer in the last hundred years or so, and while it may not be for the science novice, the ideas, theories, and hypotheses expressed in this book have reshaped science, and offered up hope and ideals for future answers and theories that will continue to change the world as we know it.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
The book is divided into four parts, as Dawkins organizes the vast wealth of science writing available not in chronological order, but groups the extracts into the following categories: “What Scientists Study,” “Who Scientists Are,” “What Scientists Think,” “What Scientists Delight in.” Organizing it this ways serves to make the book more entertaining in the variety of subjects that are presented when the book is read from cover to cover. Should the reader want to use the book more as a reference tool or to look up some specific authors or terms, there is a thorough index at the end of the book. With each extract, Dawkins offers up his own commentary and reason for choosing the specific piece.
All the great scientists make an appearance here: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick, Brian Greene, Jared Diamond, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Primo Levi, the list goes on and on. But this list is not reserved for the greats of science, but many of the women and men who have worked hard in their lives to further the knowledge of science in areas such as genetics, evolution, string theory, relativity, and mathematics. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a weighty, comprehensive book with almost everything science has had to offer in the last hundred years or so, and while it may not be for the science novice, the ideas, theories, and hypotheses expressed in this book have reshaped science, and offered up hope and ideals for future answers and theories that will continue to change the world as we know it.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
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